Divine Comedy-I: Inferno

cantos 3

How does the punishment of the cowards fit the vice? Looking closely at 3.52-7 and 3.64-9, express this relationship--what we call the "contrapasso"--in the form of a simile ("just as in life they... , so now in hell they...") or in an ironic, causal phrase ("Because in life they failed / refused to..., now in hell they...."). Try to identify several possibilities or levels for the contrapasso.